July 20, 2014 - Minneapolis, MN - In July of 2016, approximately 7,500 workers will have worked more than 4.5 million hours building the new Minnesota Multi-Purpose Stadium. Hundreds of Minnesota businesses have provided materials and professional services for the stadium. Surface parking lots in the Downtown East area will be replaced by hundreds of millions of dollars in new development of offices, apartments, restaurants, stores and a park. The Minnesota Vikings will be preparing for their inaugural season in their new home, and several hundreds of new employees will be working in the new stadium. Planning for the 2018 Super Bowl will be well underway. And that's just what we know today.

"Minnesota invested in the stadium to promote economic development," said Michele Kelm-Helgen, chair of the Minnesota Sports Facilities Authority. "The investment in this statewide amenity is helping the area around the stadium develop a new life and vitality that was never there with the Metrodome."

The new Multi-Purpose Stadium gives Minnesota the ability to host sporting events such as the NCAA Final Four, MLS games and college tournaments as well as national conventions and international music tours. Minnesota high school and college sports teams and events will continue to be a staple in the new Stadium.

As we look back at the success of the MLB All Star game and all of the events surrounding it, the spotlight was placed on Minnesota this week and we proved once again that we are more than capable of producing world class events.

The new stadium has and will continue to create new jobs, it will continue to spur economic development around the stadium site, and will continue to attract some of the most important events nationally and internationally.

The State of the Stadium dashboard has been created to track impacts the new stadium has on employment and economic development. Attached is the first of many State of the Stadium updates that will track how the stadium is impacting Minnesota.

The Minnesota Sports Facilities Authority (MSFA) is the developer of the new Minnesota Multi-Purpose Stadium. The MSFA will own and operate the new stadium once complete in July of 2016.The stadium will be the home to the Minnesota Vikings as well as a broad range of other civic, community, athletic, educational, cultural and commercial activities.

If you are hearing impaired, deaf or deaf/blind and would like assistance from the MSFA, please dial 7-1-1 and tell the Communications Assistant which type of relay call you wish to make. Please have the Communications Assistant dial 612-335-3316 for assistance from MSFA.